It all began with one single day in 1908 in New York City when thousands of women united and marched for better labor laws, conditions, and the right to vote. In March 1910, 100 women, representing 17 countries, met at the International Conference of Women and agreed that International Women’s Day would be honored on March 8.

Unfortunately, International Women’s Day took over 65 years to gain recognition when the United Nations officially sponsored the day in 1975.

In 1978, a California-based organization became frustrated with the lack of information about women’s history available to the public, so they initiated the creation of Women’s History Week. This led to President Jimmy Carter declaring a Presidential Proclamation that the week of March 8 was officially National Women’s History Week.

And a week became a whole month.

Women’s history week continued its growth and recognition in state schools, government, and organizations. In 1986, 14 states dubbed March as Women’s History Month. A year later congress officially declared the holiday.